There was strength in numbers, and they now added themselves to the list to be called on.
Most of the valley community turned out for the funeral. Sela studied the faces in the crowd. Some she knew, many she didn’t, but almost everyone who’d heard what had happened attended. Many wore black. Most had walked, while a few had used precious gasoline to drive here. Sela had driven herself, with Barb, Meredith, and Olivia in tow. She couldn’t see either of the older women handling the walk well.
Meredith had stopped crying a while back, though her eyes were red and she trembled. She had been Ted’s reason for everything and, imperfect as he was, he had been her center. Barb stood to one side of the new widow. Leigh Kilgore was on the other side, a steadying hand resting on Meredith’s arm. Harley’s widow had similar support, both physical and emotional.
Carol had insisted on attending the funeral, but Sela and Barb had insisted more urgently that she stay in bed—at Sela’s house, until the evidence of violence in her own home could be cleared away—and rest. There were too many gentle hills in the cemetery, too many potential pitfalls. The last thing they needed was for her to take another fall.
As the preacher’s words came to an end, Barb stepped forward and began singing a hymn in her sweet voice, a familiar one most of the funeral goers would know. People began joining in, their voices rising in the cold air. Sela tried to join in but her throat was too tight, and she couldn’t get the words out. She reached out, grabbed Ben’s hand. He threaded his fingers through hers and held on tight. His hand in hers grounded her, and when the time came she was reluctant to let him go.
When the funeral was over, Ben hung back while Sela made the rounds, hugging Meredith as well as Harley’s widow, offering her condolences and her prayers. Olivia got a big hug, too, many of them, from a lot of different people. She was a kid and she’d had too many harrowing experiences in the last few days. There was a new look in Olivia’s eyes, an older, fiercer expression. Death had touched her at a young age, when she lost her parents, and now this.
Ben stayed close behind Sela and the others as they walked toward the car, sharply watching over his . . . well, hell, his family. They, and Meredith, were crowded into Sela’s small house. No one wanted Meredith to go home alone, to that empty house on the mountain. It was a nice house, but it was also isolated with all those empty rental cabins in the neighborhood. Ben’s house was the closest one that was occupied, and wasn’t exactly easy to get to.
Sela fished her keys out of her pocket; Ben reached out and snagged them from her and she gave him a surprised look. “What—?”
“Olivia,” he called, and the girl turned toward him. He tossed the keys to her.
She deftly caught them, her gaze flaring with joy. “Yes!” she hissed, clutching the keys.
“Ben!” Sela said in alarm. “She’s fifteen!”
“Has she had driving lessons?”
“A few. She got her learner’s permit a few months back. But—”
“Think she can handle the short distance to your house?”
“It’s not that far,” she conceded. “And Lord knows there isn’t much traffic.” There were a lot of pedestrians, though, and she wasn’t sure how much of a danger Olivia would be to them.
“Let her drive. You come home with me.”
Come home with me. That phrase was as tantalizing as the When we have sex that had haunted her for . . . well, hours, before it had actually happened.
“I really should see everyone settled.”
“You really should come home with me and let me take care of you for a while. Olivia can handle the rest. We’ll come down and check on them tomorrow morning. Promise.”
Olivia had been listening. She spun around and mouthed to Sela, “We’ll be fine. Go!”
Sela nodded, and as the women got into her Honda, Ben lifted her into the passenger side of his truck. She was definitely sore from Lawrence’s kicks, her side and thigh deeply bruised. Barb had made a couple of poultices that had helped ease the soreness, but she still felt it.
“The community patrol met this morning,” Ben said as he pulled onto the road.
“I didn’t know. I would’ve been there.”
“You needed your rest,” he grumbled. “We voted on what to do with Jeremy. Tomorrow morning a group of us will escort him a few miles out and see him on his way. He’ll have a couple bottles of water and some food, but from there he’ll be on his own. I voted against the food, but I was overruled.”
“Banishment.”
“Yep.”
“A bullet to the head might have been kinder.” She could not imagine being on her own in this world.
“I brought that up, too.” His voice was grim. “If Darren had died there probably would’ve been more votes for execution, but he’s going to recover.”
Just ahead, Olivia carefully guided Sela’s SUV onto the side road that would take her and her passengers home. She even used her turn signal. She likely wouldn’t see—Sela hoped she was paying attention to the road instead of watching her rearview mirror—but Sela gave her a thumbs-up.
“We’ve also decided to block off all the roads coming into the valley,” Ben continued. “That won’t keep everyone out, but we won’t have anyone driving in once that’s done. And we’re going to set up lookouts.”
She could only imagine a group like Lawrence and his friends with a handful of vehicles, goodness knows how many weapons, and plenty of gas. The damage they could do would be unimaginable. Access to the valley had to be controlled, because their lives could depend on it.
Ben turned onto Covemont Lane and they headed home. Home. She hadn’t moved her things there, not yet, but she had no doubt that whatever they had was important, and permanent, and that his home was now hers.
Maybe it didn’t make much sense, given what had happened in the past few days, but Sela knew she’d be fine. Carol and Olivia would be fine. Josh would come home when he could, and he’d be fine. They couldn’t know what the coming months would bring, but with Ben by her side she could do anything.
She had never felt so strong.
He deftly steered the truck over the big rock, then they crested the steep drive and reached the house. “Stay there,” he said, and came around the truck to lift her out of it.
“I’m okay,” she said mildly. “Sore, but okay.”
“Humor me.”
They went up the steps to the porch, and the spectacular view took her attention. The valley spread out before them. “I should’ve packed a bag,” she said as she walked the porch to the prime spot where Ben had positioned a couple of chairs. They would sit here a lot, she imagined.
“Tomorrow,” Ben said. “I have an extra toothbrush and I promise you won’t need pajamas.”
No, she wouldn’t. “What’s the condom count?”
“Zero.” He didn’t sound concerned.
She sure wasn’t.
The valley below looked so peaceful from this vantage point. It wasn’t, not really, and wouldn’t be for some time. They would have quiet days and days that were not so quiet.
Practical matters intruded on her thoughts. When Carol’s house had been set to rights and she, Olivia, and Barb had moved back into it, Meredith could stay and live in Sela’s house. She might want a roommate, and it wouldn’t be impossible for her to move in with Carol, but it would be crowded. That would be up to the women involved, not her decision at all, but she could certainly offer her house to the new widow. She knew she herself wouldn’t be living there anymore.